Knicks sign J.R. Smith, waive Renaldo Balkman

The New York Knicks have officially added a talented shooting guard with deep range, great athletic ability, and questionable decision-making skills.

Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations and Interim General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that the team has signed free agent guard J.R. Smith.

Smith, 6-6, 220-pounds, returns to the NBA after playing overseas for Zhejiang of the Chinese Basketball Association.

He holds NBA career averages of 12.5 points, on .428 shooting from the field and .371 from three-point range, and 23.9 minutes in 503 games (129 starts) over seven NBA seasons with New Orleans/Oklahoma City and Denver. He averaged 12.3 points on .435 shooting and .390 from downtown (124-318), 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists over 24.9 minutes in 79 games (six starts) with Denver last season.

The Freehold, NJ-native was originally selected out of high school by the New Orleans Hornets in the first round (18th overall) of 2004 NBA Draft.

To generate roster space, the Knicks waived Renaldo Balkman. The 6-8, 225-pounds averaged 3.0 points and 8.2 minutes over 14 games off the bench for New York this season.